When Worlds Collide
by Dark Dancer Kayla
Summary: After Jack leaves with the doctor Ianto is sucked through the rift and finds himself in Rose' reality with an alternate Torchwood 3. Will he make a life for himself there or find a way home? Ianto/Owen, AU, no Gwen, a bit unusual in places :
1. Chapter 1

Hello all how are you doing? I know you probably think I'm nuts starting another story but this little bunny has been in my head for ages and I needed to get it out so I could keep writing my other stories. This is going to be a different story than most of my others. For one it's Ianto/Owen, but Ianto is in an alternate reality so all of the characters are different Owen included. I will have to give JonesIantoJones credit here since she planted the idea of Ianto/Owen in my head with her wonderful Snow Day story quite a few months ago, the rest of the story however is my own crazy brain's fault, can't blame anyone for it but myself LOL. You will read quite a few references to the Borg from Startrek in here but the story isn't a cross over or anything of the sort, you'll understand what I mean as you read on. If you're confused there's plenty of information on line about them, you don't need to be a trekky to know what I mean, plus there's a small description in this chapter about what they are. This is the prologue mostly to set up the story and give you an idea of the characters, I'm interested to see what you think and if I should continue the story or not so please review and let me know what you think. If there isn't much response I'll just take it down and not bother posting but I wanted to give you all the option of deciding for yourselves.

Okay so now that I've got the technical stuff over with here's the disclaimer, I own nothing mentioned in this story just the story itself, Torchwood, Doctor Who and the Borg belong to their respective Owners.

Big thanks as always to Socalrose for being a wonderful beta :)

**When Worlds Collide**

Prologue

Jack slowly lowered himself into the chair behind his desk before resting his head in his hands. Finally John Hart was gone and the rest of this team had headed home leaving him on his own to process what they'd told him.

Ianto was gone.

He hadn't just packed up and left he'd been taken by the rift just a few short days after Jack had left with the doctor. It had been their first mission after Jack's departure, a weevil sighting in the park, nothing more serious than that. Ianto had gone with Owen the pair figuring they wouldn't need any more help than that and they hadn't. The weevil was quickly apprehended and thrown into the back of the SUV, the pair barely receiving a scratch between them. They'd been doing a quick skim of the park for Owen's gun that he'd dropped during the scuffle when the rift had opened up and swallowed Ianto closing behind him before Owen had even managed to radio Tosh about what was going on.

The group had searched everywhere for their team mate but there was no sign of him and as far as any of them could tell he hadn't been returned to them. Ianto was gone, Jack didn't know where and he might never come back. All Jack could do was hope that wherever he'd ended up it was somewhere that the other man could make a life for himself and not a deserted, lonely planet full of fierce creatures or a world at war like others who'd been taken by the rift had found themselves stranded on.

The very thought brought tears to the Captain's eyes and before he knew it he was sobbing brokenly into his hands, praying to whoever might be listening that Ianto was okay.

XX

Ianto opened his eyes as the sun touched his face and looked around the bedroom of quarters he'd been calling home since his arrival in this reality. Looking at the small calendar he'd placed on his bedside table his eyes were immediately drawn to the large 60 he'd written in red sharpie on the square for today. Sitting up in bed he picked the calendar up and turned the page back to the previous month barely believing what he was seeing. Had it really been 60 days since he arrived here? A quick count revealed that the calendar was correct and it had in fact been that long.

Sighing Ianto turned the page back to the current month and placed the calendar back on the bedside table. This was it, he'd promised himself that if no one had found him a way home by today he was going to give up on ever getting back and focus on making a life for himself here. Today was the day, his mourning period was over and it was time to move on. Dragging his body out of bed he headed for the shower allowing a few tears to fall as he prepared for the first day of his new life.

XX

In a lot of ways the reality Ianto found himself in in after being sucked up by the rift was very similar to the one he'd come from and in others it was so very different. He was still on earth, it was still the same century and in actual fact it was the very same year. Torchwood still existed, it was still funded by the crown and like the Torchwood he'd left behind it was committed to helping alien life that found its way to earth as well as protecting the planet from those who threatened it. It was even run by a few of the same people; Jack, Owen and Tosh were three of its primary operatives.

In those ways it felt a lot like home, the differences however were a constant reminder that it wasn't.

For one there was no Doctor, apparently he'd died in this reality and all that remained of him was his TARDIS that sat in the middle of the Torchwood building reminding them all to do their best. And yes, Torchwood had a building not an underground lair; in fact it had several of them all around the world committed to keeping the planet safe.

This particular branch of Torchwood had been set up by Rose Tyler, a former companion of the Doctor from Ianto's own reality who'd been stranded in this reality much like Ianto. She and her family, along with Mickey Smith, a friend of hers also from her own reality, ran Torchwood London although she spent a lot of time traveling between the branches to investigate new discoveries and ensuring they were upholding Torchwood's mission.

Torchwood 3, as the Welsh branch was still known, was still commanded by Captain Jack Harkness, Dr Owen Harper was still the doctor and Toshiko Sato was still the resident computer genius; that however was where the similarity between Ianto's reality and this one ended. As Ianto exited the lift and stepped into the main building he was once more reminded of this fact.

The main building of Torchwood was big and open like the Hub had been but rather than being enclosed in dark, grey, concrete walls the area was bright, white and lit by natural light that streamed through the windows that dominated the north and south walls. The structure itself was only 4 stories high but spread out over several kilometres. The main hub was in the centre of the structure with corridors leading off from both the east and west walls. The corridors led to the rest of the Torchwood building consisting of research labs, computer labs, medical labs and the infirmary, the kitchen and dining area and the Torchwood 3 archives which, like back home, were quite extensive.

The main building was on the ground floor with the living quarters in the same structure just one floor up. The top floor was an observation area where the Torchwood astronomers watched the skies for any signs of alien life, hostile or otherwise. The very bottom floor was under ground and much larger than the rest of the main building stretching out in a large circular shape beneath the rest of Torchwood's expansive structure. It housed the cells, the morgue, the armoury and the back-up archives for every torchwood base around the world making Torchwood 3 possibly the most important base in the franchise.

It was rather nice really and since Ianto had awoken in this universe, and been shown around the place by Rose Tyler herself, he'd been made to feel nothing but welcome by all who worked there. That was another difference about this universe; the people.

Captain Jack Harkness was still from the 51st century, he was still dashing and handsome, still had that fantastic 51st century pheromone smell and could still win over anyone with one flash of that smile of his, that however was about all the similarity there was between him and the Jack Ianto had known. This Jack had never become a con man, he'd never lost those two years of his life, never become closed off and secretive and above all else, had never met the doctor or become immortal. He was younger, not by much but just a little. Of course he didn't look like he was carrying the weight of the universe on his shoulders which Ianto figured added to his youthful appearance.

He was a happy man, open and honest with his team about who he was and where he'd come from. Ianto was pretty sure in the few minutes he'd spent talking to Jack in this time he'd learnt more about the man than he'd ever learnt from his former lover back home. He hadn't mentioned anything to this Jack about the relationship they had where he came from, partly because it wasn't a can of worms he wanted to open and partly because he didn't want to make the captain's partner jealous.

Yes, Jack had a partner, and just like Jack this partner shocked the hell out of Ianto with how different he was in this universe.

Captain John Hart was Jack's second in command of Torchwood three in this universe and just like Jack he was a happy, friendly, easy going guy with none of the murderous, alcoholic, con man history he had in Ianto's universe. He was lovely to everyone unless he had reason not to be and Ianto found himself liking the other man rather quickly despite the mental associations he had with the man's alter ego in the other universe.

Tosh was a lot like Tosh in his universe, competent, gorgeous, a complete genius and incredibly lovely. In this universe however she was more confident, she was the head computer tech as well as sharing the post of head scientist and commanded the computer tech's solo while sharing command of the science team with her counterpart. She was very happy and in a stable, long term relationship with, surprisingly, Lisa Hallett.

Seeing Lisa alive had been one of the most wonderful and terrifying experiences in this reality. She herself didn't come from this reality either, she and Tosh had found their way to Torchwood from another universe entirely and in their universe as well as this one Ianto had died saving Lisa. In this Lisa's reality she and Ianto hadn't been in love, they'd grown up together and been the best of friends all their lives. As such she reacted to seeing him about the same way as he reacted to seeing her, with lots of shock and tears. She and Tosh made an excellent couple which surprised Ianto but made him incredibly happy for them at the same time. He was surprised by his own lack of jealousy and disappointment that Lisa was taken in this world but put it down to the fact that he'd let Lisa go so long ago in his own time and as much as he'd always love her he wasn't in love with her anymore.

She was Torchwood's head astronomer as well as sharing the post of head scientist with Tosh thus giving her solo control over the astronomers and shared control over the scientists. She and Tosh had come from a reality where their planet had been invaded, not by the Cybermen like this reality and Ianto's, but by the Borg a cybernetic race who invaded almost every culture they came across, assimilating their people and technology in the quest for perfection. The planets they conquered became part of the Borg's collective as they called it which was controlled by a queen. The people became drones whose minds were connected to all of the others in the massive Borg network which harmonised and controlled the thoughts of every individual and ensured obedience and lack on uniformity. Drones did as they were ordered by the collective consciousness their minds no longer able to process independent thoughts or resist the collective's control.

Tosh and Lisa had been almost completely assimilated when the doctor in their time had saved them. He changed them back as much as was possible with the help of scientists in the other reality before sneaking them through a crack to this reality and sealing it shut behind them. When Ianto asked why he'd done that for them they'd explained that they'd saved the doctor's companion of that reality at one stage and the man had saved them as a favour. As far as why he sent them to this reality all the pair could figure was that it was the only place the man thought they'd be safe. They never found out what happened to their reality.

Like Ianto neither of them existed in this reality so they'd stayed here and become part of Jack's team, the knowledge they'd attained while part of the Borg's collective consciousness coming in very handy when it came to protecting the earth. It wasn't without cost of course, aside from the nightmares the girls also had to deal with daily physical reminders of their ordeal. The Borg used tiny machines, called nanoprobes, to assimilate their victims. They evolved within the body to become whatever was required to assimilate the host and were self-replicating meaning they continuously made more of themselves as they were required. Those probes had the ability to become much more complex implants and had taken over some of the women's bodily functions after the assimilation meaning they couldn't be removed completely and some of those implants were outside of the body.

With their understanding of the technology the girls had no difficulty making those implants invisible to the naked eye meaning they could go out in public without anyone else noticing, unfortunately they couldn't hide them from themselves and every time they looked in the mirror they were reminded of that happened to them. Ianto felt sorry for them both but at least they were alive and their own people again, given the choice between going through a Borg assimilation or a Cyberman conversion Ianto would pick the Borg any day.

Of course the pair didn't seem to let it bother them; in fact they used the experience to their advantage and to the advantage of earth's population. They had the ability to reprogram their nanoprobes to do pretty much anything they wanted and if necessary could remove some to use in other applications outside of themselves including healing people or fixing technology. Those nanoprobes were quickly replaced in their bodies so as long as they didn't lose too many they were fine.

Lisa had been incredibly happy to see Ianto as Ianto had been to see her and he hadn't let a day go by that he didn't take at least a few minutes to talk to her, her presence wasn't something he took for granted and she certainly didn't seem to mind. A strong friendship was forming between them already something that had made his time in this reality s lot easier to handle. She was brilliant and beautiful just like she'd always been.

There were quite a few other people he'd never met before, among them were Lois Habiba who had the job Ianto had done in his reality. There was also Ronan Dex, an alien from a far-away galaxy who was Torchwood's chief of security.

The biggest surprise of them all had come in the form of one Dr Owen Harper, the female form. When Ianto had met this universe's version of Owen she was in the dining area talking and laughing with Tosh over lunch. When Rose introduced the gorgeous young woman with long, silky, black hair, alabaster skin and deep, chocolate brown eyes as Dr Owen Harper Ianto had nearly fallen over. Seeing his confusion Lisa, who had been along with them for the tour, had taken it on herself to explain.

Apparently about a year earlier Owen in his normal body had been involved in an accident with an alien device that turned him into a woman. The device had of course blown up during the incident so the process had been irreversible, or so everyone had thought. Owen had gotten over his shock and eventually began to adapt to life as a woman, something helped greatly by all the oestrogen he suddenly found in his body. He adapted to life and moved on with life in his new body until late one evening, out on a mission, a large tree branch had fallen on Tosh knocking her out cold. Alone and desperate to get her out Owen had pulled with all her might to free the other woman unable to get in to help her until the branch was moved.

Somewhere in the middle of the crisis, and from what the scientists could tell it was only due to sheer desperation, Owen's body had changed back into its original male and thankfully stronger form. He'd managed to move the tree branch and pulled Tosh out before carrying her back to the SUV. When he'd returned to the base and was sure Tosh was okay he and the other medical staff along with the Torchwood scientists had studied him as closely as possible and come up with something quite amazing. The change was permanent, but only in that it gave Owen the ability to change to a female form at will. He hadn't been able to control the change initially because he didn't know how and thus began a series of tests to determine just how the change worked and what Owen would have to do to control it.

A year down the track and Owen had the ability to change his form at will meaning he could spend as much time as he wanted as a woman or a man and that particular day he'd chosen to be a woman. Once he got used to the idea that this really was Owen he thought all the surprises were over, however when the doctor stood up and came forward to greet him with a bright, welcoming smile Ianto realized he was wrong.

"Dr Owen Harper and I'm sorry for the confusion," the young doctor greeted holding out her hand to shake. "Welcome to Torchwood, I'm so sorry for what has happened to you it can't be easy. It's lovely to meet you, if you need anything let me know. "Ianto shook the doctor's hand more shocked by the woman's mannerisms than he had been by the Doctor's female form.

Everyone had greeted him in a similar fashion Jack, John and Ronan included and every one of them had lived up to the offer, helping him get settled in and showing him around the place. He was extremely grateful to all of them especially considering how antisocial and depressed he'd been over the last few weeks. Now that he'd made a conscious decision to stay here and make a life for himself however he intended to do his best to make it up to them all and find a way to repay their kindness and patience.

"Ianto," a voice called to him from the south corridor which led to the archives, the kitchen and the dining room.

He turned to find Owen approaching him, in male form today, with a friendly smile and what looked like a cup of coffee in his hand. "Morning, Owen," he greeted the doctor returning his smile.

Owen was a bit younger in this world making him the same age as Ianto and Lisa which led Ianto to wonder if this was what Owen was like back in his reality before he lost Katie. There was no Katie in this world for Owen to lose, not yet anyway and Ianto hoped the young doctor might have the chance of staying as friendly as he was rather than turning into the snarky creature his alternate self had become.

"How are you this morning?" the Doctor asked as he reached Ianto. 'You're looking a little happier which is nice to see."

Ianto nodded, "Yeah, it's time to stop pining and start living again," he replied. "I gave myself 60 days to find a way home and this is it, today is day 60, and it's time to move on."

Owen gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry we couldn't help you get home," he said softly.

Ianto nodded, "Thanks, I know you guys did everything you could, I'm really grateful for that," he replied looking down.

"So, now that you've decided to stay here have you given any thought to what you might do with yourself?" Owen asked choosing a cheerier subject for which Ianto was glad.

"Well I don't know, I'm on my way to talk to Jack right now, I was hoping he might let me stay here," Ianto replied.

"Really?" Owen asked a wide happy smile crossing his face.

"Yeah, really," Ianto replied returning the Doctor's smile.

"That's great," Owen said happily, "It'd be great to have you here with us."

Ianto's smile grew wider at the doctor's words; Owen was really a lovely person in this reality. "Yeah I'd like that too," he said.

"Well, come on then, let's see what Jack has to say about it," the Londoner said grabbing Ianto's hand gently and pulling him toward Jack's office. "Hey, Jack, are you in there?" he called as they got closer.

Ianto followed along behind the doctor keenly aware of the hand holding his. That was another thing he'd noticed about Owen; he was actually a very attractive person, regardless of which body he was occupying. Ianto had never really noticed in his own reality, he'd spent most of his time ignoring the man because he was so unpleasant, but when Owen was being nice, like he had the entire time Ianto had been in this reality, Ianto had no reason to ignore him and so he finally began to notice.

Ianto had never been into holding hands, he found the practice rather annoying since he then only had one usable hand and what was the point of that? You may as well amputate one of them. At the moment however he found holding Owen's hand was really quite nice.

"Yo." Ianto heard Jack's answering call from inside the office and Owen stuck his head around the door to talk to the Captain.

"Hey, Ianto's here to talk to you." Ianto heard Owen tell the 51st century man.

"Come in, Ianto," Jack called and Owen backed out giving Ianto a grin.

"Come and find me when you're done, I'll be in the medical research lab," the doctor said before releasing Ianto's hand and heading motioning toward Jack's open door.

"I will, thanks," Ianto replied returning Owen's smile as the doctor headed away.

He took a deep breath before heading into Jack's office. "Good morning, Captain," he greeted the other man politely.

"Geez, Ianto, call me Jack," the 51st century man replied motioning to the chair across from his desk. "Have a seat," he offered.

"Okay, Jack," Ianto replied lowering himself into the proffered chair.

"How are you today?" Jack asked and Ianto smiled at the true concern he could see in the other man's eyes.

"I'm good, doing much better, thank you," Ianto replied. "How are you?" he asked politely in return.

"I'm great, thanks," the captain replied with a smile, "Morning's going well so far, busy of course but when aren't we?"

"This isn't a bad time is it?" Ianto asked not wanting to inconvenience the other man if he was busy.

"Oh no, no, not at all, what can I do for you?" the Captain asked.

"Well I um, I wanted to come and talk to you about me actually. I've finally accepted that I'm not going to be getting home and I'd like to start making a life for myself here," Ianto explained.

Jack gave him an understanding smile, "Well, that's good," he said. "I know it hasn't been easy for you having your entire life uprooted like it has been, I'm glad to see you're going to try and make the most of the situation, I'd have hated to see you just give up."

Ianto nodded and looked down, he wasn't about to tell Jack that there hadn't been much in his life back home to uproot once alternate Jack had run off with the Doctor to god knows where. If he were being honest with himself all of the pining he'd been doing over the last couple of weeks had been quite pointless really. He'd missed Rhiannon a little, but he hadn't seen her that much anyway, he missed Tosh a bit too but they hadn't really been friends in his own reality. Honestly, the thing he'd been most upset about was losing any possibility of ever seeing the immortal Jack again and who was he kidding? The chances of that were slim even if he were in his own universe. He hadn't meant anything to Jack and at last he'd come to accept it, at least in this reality there were people who genuinely seemed to want him around.

"Have you thought about what you'd like to do in this reality?" the Captain asked drawing him out of his internal reverie.

"Actually, yes, I was wondering if I might be able to stay on here at Torchwood. I've worked for one branch of Torchwood or another my entire working life, aliens and protecting the world are my life really, they have been for years," Ianto explained hoping the other man would understand. He was surprised when a wide smile crossed the 51st century man's face.

"I was really hoping you were going to say that," the Captain replied, "I actually have a job that I think will really suit you." He finished with a calculating but kind look in those lovely blue eyes.

Ianto raised an eyebrow, "What job is that?" he asked.

XX

End of prologue

Ok so there we go, any thoughts? Should I continue? Let me know.

BTW the next chapter of exchange program is half finished so it'll be up soon too YAY!


	2. Settling into Torchwood

Hey everyone, how are we all? I received a bit of response from my first chapter so I figured I'd continue. The next chapter is written too and it'll be up soon. Thank you to everyone who have favourited and reviewed so far I will be responding to reviews at the bottom. Please review this chapter I'd really like to know what you think.

Thanks to Socalrose for being a wonderful beta.

**Settling in to Torchwood**

Ianto watched Ronan demonstrate the move several times before he felt confident to attempt it himself. Nodding to the security chief he moved to the centre of the circle and performed the move before turning to the other man with a questioning glance. Ronan nodded indicating that Ianto had performed it correctly before moving on to the next move he wanted Ianto to learn that day.

A month had passed since Jack had offered Ianto a position with Torchwood and upon Ianto's acceptance had informed him that he would be required to undergo three months of intense preparation and training before the job could commence. Preparation and training involved a lot of physical fitness, marksmanship, weapons and combat training as well as a lot of studying. Ianto would have been lying is he said it was easy, just like he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it.

His job, once his training was complete, would be the official liaison/communications officer of Torchwood, the whole of Torchwood. It would be his job to liaise between all of the Torchwood branches and their allies, make first contact with any aliens that approached earth, ensure every branch of Torchwood was up to date with any new discoveries made by the individual branches and aware of any new technology/alien/information that fell through the rift. On top of that he would be training as a field officer to take part in missions with the rest of the senior staff when necessary.

The Torchwood group had decided that since Torchwood Cardiff was so close to the rift they should be the first point of contact for alien life and since they had the main archives in their base they were the best equipped to store all new information and research and distribute it to the rest of the group. Rose had allowed Jack to choose who he wanted for the job and Jack had chosen Ianto much to Ianto's surprise. When he'd asked the 51st century man why Jack had smiled and replied.

"Because you're young, smart, well organised, you have an excellent memory, you're polite and courteous, you look great in a suit and if I were an evil alien, on my way to earth, hell bent on conquest and slaughter and you came up on my screen, looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes and spoke to me with those gorgeous Welsh vowels I think I'd change my mind and go blow up a different planet."

Ianto had blushed rather brightly at that and thanked the other man for the compliment while looking down at his shoes.

Jack had chuckled at him then. "Not all that good with compliments are you?" he'd asked.

"Actually no, not really," Ianto had admitted. He'd gotten used to Jack flirting with him back home but even when his Jack had complimented him he'd never been able to take it well.

"Well, you'd best get used to it, I do that a lot and you are an exceptionally cute," the 51st century captain informed him and Ianto had felt his blush darken as he thanked the other man once more.

Jack laughed again and stood up from his desk coming around to kneel in front of Ianto and looking up into his eyes which were still glued to his shoes. "Does it bother you?" Jack asked quietly.

Ianto shook his head, it really didn't bother him at all, in fact it was quite nice particularly since he knew Jack wasn't trying to sleep with him in this reality and therefore had no reason to flatter him untruthfully. It was at that moment that Ianto had realised just how close Jack had gotten to him and he'd been expecting his blush to deepen as it would have when jack invaded his personal space back in his universe. It hadn't happened, and that was probably because he didn't feel the same way about this Jack as he had about his own.

Back in his own reality if the 51st century man had gotten this close to him it would have taken every bit of restraint not to leap forward and kiss the other man but Ianto didn't feel like that at all toward this version of Jack. He missed his Jack, god only knew how much, but he liked this Jack a lot and really wanted to be friends with him which actually seemed attainable in this universe where it hadn't in the other. He had the weirdest urge to be close to the man, something he'd only felt with the other Jack in his universe. But then again he felt like that toward all of the Torchwood staff in this universe, like he belonged with them, which was very odd for him.

Jack had watched him for a moment before tilting his head to the side in what Ianto thought must have been puzzlement. "It's funny, there's something about you that…" the 51st century man had trailed off with a shake of his head, "I don't know."

"What?" Ianto had asked not sure whether to be curious or concerned.

Jack had shaken his head once more, "It doesn't matter," he'd replied before moving to stand up.

"No, what is it, Jack?" Ianto had asked catching the other man's arm without realising what he was doing.

Jack had looked down at where Ianto's hand was resting on his arm and thinking the captain was bothered by the contact Ianto had let the other man go and opened his mouth to apologise. He'd been surprised beyond words when Jack's hand had caught his before it could get far, his apology dying in his throat. Jack had looked down at Ianto's hand for what felt like hours before saying, "There's something about you that makes me want…makes me want you close to me."

He'd looked up at Ianto then with even more puzzlement than he had previously. "I want you near me. Not like I want John just…I want to hold you…keep you close, protect you I…I don't know why," Jack finished looking down at their hands again.

"I'm supposed to be by your side," Ianto had blurted out all of a sudden and was shocked beyond all belief to realise just how much he meant it. Jack had looked back at him in shock and Ianto had quickly continued. "Not like John is but…I belong here, with you and the others, I can feel it too. I imagine you feel quite protective of your team as well."

"I do, but not as strongly as I do with you. The only bond I've felt that's stronger than this is to John, it was instant too," the captain had confessed quietly.

A sudden thought had occurred to Ianto and he'd asked, "Did you ever have a best friend growing up, Jack?"

Jack had looked back at him for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I had friends but…no one that close except John and I always viewed him as more than a friend," the 51st century man had replied.

"Neither did I," Ianto had confessed quietly not mentioning that he'd had Lisa but always thought of her the way Jack thought of John.

"Do you think that's what this is?" the captain had asked.

Ianto had shrugged, "Maybe, I guess we just wait and see what happens."

Jack had looked back at him for a moment before asking, "Stupid request but can I hug you?"

Ianto had chuckled and leant forward to hug the 51st century captain resting his face against Jack's as the other man hugged him back. He'd felt relaxed, comforted and safe in the other man's arms, much like he had when his Jack had held him back home only without the lust that had accompanied those holds. It was nice, really nice.

They'd agreed to get to know each other better and not a day had gone by where Jack didn't hug him at least once and they hadn't shared at least one meal, usually breakfast. Lunch was usually taken as a group and dinner was usually a meal he spent with Owen and/or occasionally Ronan if their training sessions ran late. He was enjoying his time in this universe now that he'd accepted he'd be staying and while he missed his own universe he could definitely see himself making a life here.

Ronan showed him the last move he wanted Ianto to learn for the day before deciding they'd break for lunch. Ianto's days were very busy and full starting with a work out, combat and weapons training with Ronan. That usually ran until lunch after which he had marksmanship and mission training with Jack and/or John until afternoon tea then studying until dinner which he had Owen, Tosh and Lisa to help him with when he needed it. He had a lot to learn for his new position including several languages which he only really had to learn the basics in thankfully and the entire Shadow Proclamation law book which was insanely long, but it was very interesting stuff so it wasn't a real hardship.

He and Ronan cleaned up and headed down to lunch where, as usual, the entire group was waiting for them. Owen spotted them first and waved them over with a happy smile. Ianto smiled back and headed over his smile widening as he took in the lovely, and today feminine, form of the young doctor. His attraction to Owen had been growing quite quickly over the last month and he was slowly trying to work up the courage to ask the lovely doctor out. The constant changing of forms had taken a bit to get used to but Ianto had finally adjusted and now found it a fun game to guess what form Owen would choose for the day.

"Hey," he greeted the group as he sat down in the space that had been left for him next to Owen.

"Hey, Ianto, hey, Ronan," the chorus of voices greeted the pair in return.

"How's training going, Ianto?" Jack asked, "Ronan's not going too hard on you is he?"

"No, it's been really good," Ianto replied with a smile for the captain before turning his attention to Ronan. "Ronan's a hard task master but he's been training me well."

Ronan gave him a small smile, "Unlike the rest of you he doesn't complain, it's refreshing," the tall man stated giving the rest of the group a hard look.

They all chuckled at that before John suggested that they get up and pick what they wanted for lunch now that they were all present. They did, returning to the table as quickly as possible and continuing their conversations. About halfway through lunch Jack piped up and said.

"Ianto, I forgot to tell you this morning we're going out next week for our monthly staff gathering, do you want to come with us?"

"Sure," Ianto replied with a smile, "That'd be nice."

"Where are we going this time, Jack?" Tosh asked.

"I haven't decided yet, any ideas?" Jack asked in return.

"That new club has opened in town," Lisa suggested, "It's apparently got a really nice eating area on one of the upper levels as well as private function rooms, a live band and a great bar and dance floor. I think we should go there."

"I agree," John agreed raising his drink in salute to the astronomer.

"What does everyone else think?" Jack asked.

The group all replied in affirmatives and Jack nodded. "All right, I'll book it." He decided before taking another bite of his lunch.

Ianto saw Tosh lean over and whisper something to Owen that made the doctor blush and slap the computer genius lightly on the arm. Tosh's only response was to giggle and Owen turned back to her lunch with an embarrassed look on her face.

Ianto watched her for a moment wondering what Tosh had said until Owen seemed to notice that she had his attention and shifted her gaze to him, the blush deepening. "What?" she asked quietly.

Ianto smiled; something about him maybe? "Nothing, just wondering about the reason for the rather bright blush on your face," he replied.

Ianto didn't think it was possible for that blush to get any darker but somehow it did and Owen managed to stutter, "Nothing." Before turning her attention back to her food.

Ianto's smile widened and he turned his attention back to his own food. He was thinking about the upcoming outing and how much fun it was going to be when he suddenly realised he hadn't been shopping for clothes since he'd arrived. He had the suit he'd been sucked through the rift in, a few casual things the others had found for him to wear when he'd first arrived and the Torchwood issued workout gear he'd been given before the start of his training but that was it, he hadn't had any need for anything else yet and hadn't thought about clothes during those first 60 days.

"Um, actually, Jack, going out might be a bit hard for me right now," he told the 51st century man when he stopped speaking to take a bite of his food.

"Why?" Jack asked with his mouth full which provoked a scolding from John to swallow before he spoke which provoked an answering leer from Jack.

"I haven't had a chance to go anywhere yet and I currently have no money, I have nothing to wear out," he informed the man.

The table suddenly got silent and Tosh's eyes turned to Jack, "Didn't you tell him about the account you had me set up for him?" she asked.

"I thought you did," he replied.

The pair shared a look before Jack turned to Ianto and said. "You do have money, Tosh set up an account for you not long after you got here. We initially wired you an amount allotted by the crown for people who are sucked through the rift and need to relocate or just get by until they can find a way home. We also started paying you at the beginning of your training so if you haven't touched that money at all yet…well…there should be a bit there and as far as shopping goes I'm sure we could give you a break from training for the afternoon so the girls can take you out.

Tosh, Lisa and Owen turned matching, scarily excited grins in Ianto's direction and he felt a nervous laugh escape him. "Um, I'm sure I can find my own way," he tried to protest without appearing rude but the girls weren't having it.

"Nonsense, you don't know your way around this city, I'm sure it's probably different to yours and wouldn't it be easier for us to tell you where the good shops are than have to look for them yourself?" Lisa asked.

"Well, um…" Ianto trailed off as the girls started conversing quietly but excitedly and he knew they wouldn't hear him anyway. "Guess I have no say in the matter," he finished to no one in particular.

Ronan's heavy hand on his shoulder caused him to look over at the alien who was regarding him with a look of sympathy.

Ianto gave him a grateful expression in return and sighed, nothing he could do about it now. He looked over at Jack who was looking back at him apologetically and shook his head indicating for the other man not to be worried. He might be facing a long afternoon but at least he'd be spending it with people who actually cared about him, it had been a long time since he'd been able to say that.

XX

End of chapter

Please review, it makes me want to write more.

Review replies:

': Thank you, I'll do my best not to disappoint :). Thanks for taking the time to review it's greatly appreciated.

Stormreaver01: Yes I'm enjoying writing about the different personalities too, it's fun to explore different sides of the character's personalities. Thank you so much for your review it was lovely :)


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